Motorcycle Review: 2007 Honda VT750C2

2007 Honda VT750C2

Handout, Honda

by
David Booth, Canwest News Service | August 10, 2011

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To truly “get” why the VT750 is so important to Honda Canada, you have to wade through about a gazillion PowerPoint pie chart presentations, each leading –seemingly without end — to yet another pie chart detailing what the VT750 … well, uhm … means to Honda Canada.

Of the 80,334 motorcycles sold in Canada in 2005, 57% were street bikes. Of those 45,800 street-legal motorcycles, 55% were cruisers. Of those roughly 25,000 customs, fully a quarter fit into the entry-level 649- to 800-cubic-centimetre segment.

OK, so that’s not the most fascinating way to lead into a motorcycle story. Maybe I’ll just shorten it to this: The VT750 is the second-best-selling motorcycle in Canada and the most popular in Honda’s stable. So, although the VT750’s 749-cc V-twin won’t rip your sockets out with arm-stretching acceleration or cosset you on week-long tours to Vancouver, the new-for-2007 C2 version may be the most important motorcycle I test this year.

That’s a chunk of pressure for a bike that is essentially a parts bin special. The one sentence descriptor would be that the VT750C2 is essentially the mechanicals of the VT750C Aero mated to the styling of the VT750D Spirit, with a few essential tweaks. Honda says the frame is all-new, but the design is certainly familiar. There is a nine-kilogram weight reduction, though, as well as a new 21-inch front wheel. The C2 also wears a new single carburetor induction system for more torque and reduced emissions.

For something so familiar, however, it certainly performs uniquely. The riding position is markedly better than the previous Spirit (which Honda will continue to sell through 2007), with the handlebars higher and the seat lower. That seat, by the way, is a new “gunfighter” design, which is supremely comfortable — at least for the rider. The passenger portion is minuscule as well as radically sloped. It is of use only for short tavern-to-tavern TT crawls. Anything more distant than going from Toronto to Whitby is going to result in serious agony for whoever is riding pillion.

Besides the excellent riding position for one, the new C2 benefits from revised engine tuning, with a little more torque at lower rpm. There’s also a pleasant thrum to the engine as just the right amount of the V-twin’s typical vibration rumbles through the frame. Honda could have tuned out every bit of vibration, but it has learned the hard way that the true cruiser experience needs a bit of atmosphere.

One of the justifications for the switch to a 21-inch front wheel — and any technological explanation is indeed a justification since it was done entirely for style — is that the larger wheel more easily rides over potholes and, therefore, improves the ride. And, yes, the front end of the VT750C2 rides very smoothly. The rear, though, feels harsh by comparison, though not overly so.

Where the new C2 really shines, however, is in the styling department. The aforementioned 21-inch front tire — only 90 millimetres wide — makes the little Honda look very much like a 7/8th-scale Harley Softail Custom. The fit and finish, for a bike likely to cost only about $9,000 (Honda Canada has yet to set final pricing for the VT750C2 and the wide range of accessories it will offer for this mid-sized custom), is darned impressive. Not only is the paint and chrome flawless, but the execution of some of the detailing — such as the rear fender/tail light and the headlight/front turn signal arrangement — is the stuff normally only seen on larger-displacement, more expensive motorcycles.

In the end, it will be that styling that sells the new VT750C2. Available in four colours — two with the de rigueur flame paint motifs — this latest Honda does exactly what it’s designed to do, emulate larger cruisers’ bad-boy attitude at a fraction of the cost.